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Hi.
Yesterday my dad turned up our car speakers really loud because he was supposed to "fix" something. And I've been having tinnitus for about 8 months, it has gradually faded pretty good and I'm now used to the noise.
Today I feel a fullness in my left ear and my ears ring just a tiny bit extra loud today. I'm having a cold/flu and a runny nose. Will this fullness/spike go away in a few days or is it a permanent damage? And do you think it's caused by the car speakers or my cold/flu?

Your symptoms sound like the fullness may be caused by the middle ear generating mucus which can happen when the Eustachian tube cuts off the air supply and the air in the middle ear eventually is absorbed by the cells in the ear. Then, a vacuum results and mucus can be generated by the middle ear which causes tinnitus and fullness. In my posts, I stated that for me, with Eustachian tube dysfunction, I took Nasonex spray for several days (being careful to point the spray at the Eustachian tube, located at the back of the nose rather than the sinuses) and used a vibrating tool like eardoc (www.eardoc.info) and placed in at the opening of the ear to cause the most vibration. I did this for about 5 minutes a day for several days. This had the effect of breaking up the mucus and allowed the mucus to move away from the eardrum in the middle ear and reduce the tinnitus. This is just a suggestion which may be helpful. Putting the vibrating tool on a washrag for example, and then placing it on the ear opening can distribute the vibration and make it more comfortable as well.

Your symptoms sound like the fullness may be caused by the middle ear generating mucus which can happen when the Eustachian tube cuts off the air supply and the air in the middle ear eventually is absorbed by the cells in the ear. Then, a vacuum results and mucus can be generated by the middle ear which causes tinnitus and fullness. In my posts, I stated that for me, with Eustachian tube dysfunction, I took Nasonex spray for several days (being careful to point the spray at the Eustachian tube, located at the back of the nose rather than the sinuses) and used a vibrating tool like eardoc (www.eardoc.info) and placed in at the opening of the ear to cause the most vibration. I did this for about 5 minutes a day for several days. This had the effect of breaking up the mucus and allowed the mucus to move away from the eardrum in the middle ear and reduce the tinnitus. This is just a suggestion which may be helpful. Putting the vibrating tool on a washrag for example, and then placing it on the ear opening can distribute the vibration and make it more comfortable as well.

Fullness is common and should pass in time. Everyone is different and circumstances are different so trying to pinpoint when this will happen is difficult. Just know it will pass and try not to worry about it too much.

Many years I consoled myself with " If only I can sort out my Eustachian tubes ill be fine" and I tried everything Neti pots ,decongestants Eardoc,Earpopper. that is a red herring sadly,as proven when I put my Aids in the fullness goes,

@carlover Thanks for your response. Do you also have maskers on your hearing aids? Do you think it is the sound amplification that is helping reduce the T? I hear just fine and have minimal hearing loss, but have been encouraged to try hearing aids by my neuro-otologist. Do you use your hearing aids when you sleep in bed?

In those small spaces, in between all that we cannot change, lies our freedom. ~Author Unkown

Hi no masker ,just hearing aids and sleep in them as I say without im in big trouble get a build up of 10 out of 10 noise lying there without. 4 years ago had a bad ear infection made things far worse and I paid to see a Private Ear doctor (not ENT an Ear specialist) he said if I get hearing aids they will make the T more bearable I didnt believe him but he was spot on,

one thing ,I have a volume control on mine so I turn the volume right up at night which distorts sound and this helps sound amplification ( but no sound in the bedroom???) and reduces the T.During the day normal volume (default) still really helps
I was lucky in the UK I got them free from our NHS local hospital.

Is it possible that the more I'll do the "earpopping" (pinching my nose while blowing it, yeah you know..) the more my ears will feel full??

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Yep. I have the "fullness" feeling in both ears right this very minute, along with high frequency hearing loss. Plugging my nose and blowing doesn't cure it, and sometimes does make it momentarily worse.

@Cassandra , do you experience the fullness even after you have been in a silent room for couple of minutes? Do you experience it in a silent bed room when you wake up? If you do, I'd say it's related to cold/inflammation etc.

If you don't experience it in silence but you do in normal environment (people taking, machines humming etc.) then your ear may be a bit dazed (on some frequencies) after the noise exposure. Protect your hearing more carefully for a week or two and you should be fine.

I've gotten a mild spike/new T tone and ear fullness 3-4 times in the last 9 months because of visiting night clubs (even with 21 SNR ear plugs). Every time it has gone away in 2-4 weeks. Last time it took only 2 weeks but as a sidenote, from now on I will be using 33 SNR ear plugs.

If all is normal there...try to treat your ear fullness like u do your t...ignore it.

Note: i had some fullness and muffled hearing after a loud noise. It settled over a few days. Was told this was the result of a protective mechanism in the ear involving the inner ear muscles spasming in response to noise.

@Cassandra , do you experience the fullness even after you have been in a silent room for couple of minutes? Do you experience it in a silent bed room when you wake up? If you do, I'd say it's related to cold/inflammation etc.

If you don't experience it in silence but you do in normal environment (people taking, machines humming etc.) then your ear may be a bit dazed (on some frequencies) after the noise exposure. Protect your hearing more carefully for a week or two and you should be fine.

I've gotten a mild spike/new T tone and ear fullness 3-4 times in the last 9 months because of visiting night clubs (even with 21 SNR ear plugs). Every time it has gone away in 2-4 weeks. Last time it took only 2 weeks but as a sidenote, from now on I will be using 33 SNR ear plugs.

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I still felt the fullness when I woke up today... Do you think it's from the cold/flu then? Cause it doesn't feel any different when I've been in a silent room.

If all is normal there...try to treat your ear fullness like u do your t...ignore it.

Note: i had some fullness and muffled hearing after a loud noise. It settled over a few days. Was told this was the result of a protective mechanism in the ear involving the inner ear muscles spasming in response to noise.

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I made an audiogram in October. It said that I have above normal hearing but with a slight reduce on really high notes.
I think that all I need to do is wait, and maybe take some nasal decongestant

I still felt the fullness when I woke up today... Do you think it's from the cold/flu then? Cause it doesn't feel any different when I've been in a silent room.

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Well, there is a good chance that it is from the flu then but I would be still extra careful protecting your hearing for a week or two. Just to be sure.

btw, if you have taken a normal audiogram, it doesn't necessarily tell the truth. Normal audiogram is up to 8000Hz and you may have a hearing loss above that. There is plenty of environmental sounds which reach 8000Hz - 12500Hz for example and if you can't hear them properly with your left ear, you may feel fullness but as stated, you feel the fullness even in silence which may mean that you have some flu related inflammation etc.

I feel fullness in my right ear troughout the day and I have mild hearing loss at 12700Hz.

Well, there is a good chance that it is from the flu then but I would be still extra careful protecting your hearing for a week or two. Just to be sure.

btw, if you have taken a normal audiogram, it doesn't necessarily tell the truth. Normal audiogram is up to 8000Hz and you may have a hearing loss above that. There is plenty of environmental sounds which reach 8000Hz - 12500Hz for example and if you can't hear them properly with your left ear, you may feel fullness but as stated, you feel the fullness even in silence which may mean that you have some flu related inflammation etc.

I feel fullness in my right ear troughout the day and I have mild hearing loss at 12700Hz.

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Also my ear is hurting a little today. I really hope it's an inflammation of some sort.

There is some good advice on this thread. The main one being that it very common to experience ear fullness with tinnitus and it does improve. It takes times for the ears and the brain to adjust to any changes in hearing, especially conditions such as hearing loss with tinnitus.